Preparing for College: Important Study Practices

A freshman's first year of college will decide the future of his/her's higher education. If a first year college student feels unprepared for college and its many demands, that student is most likely to give up, drop out, and seek out a low pay rate job. If your child is in such a place here is an important guideline that may improve their college experience and prepare them for college success.

Prioritize

The first step which a student must take to be successful in college is to organized their time. College is a whirlwind of activity. There are parties to attend, dates to have, and jobs to survive and each is important in its own right; however, this list of activities must include study time.

In order to make school a top priority, create a weekly schedule in which school, work, and social activities are assigned time slots. For instance, Monday from 9 AM to 12 PM is study time or class time (make sure to always include class time in a weekly schedule because attending class will surely improve a student's college experience). Once a student has scheduled their class and study time for every week of the semester they can now include work and socialization activities in their schedule.

Once the weekly schedule is complete a student can color code their schedule by assigning a color to a certain activity. For instance, school can be blue, work red, and social activities yellow or orange or any other color. Color coding is not only aesthetically pleasing, but helps a student to better organize and remember their schedule.

Remember, a study schedule does not have to be set in stone. It is best to keep the study schedule flexible so that a student can be better prepared for emergencies or general school burn out. If a students misses out on a regularly scheduled study time they can make up for it by studying on a Saturday or any day they have planned for relaxation and fun.

To prioritize time is to create organization within a student's life. Creating a schedule and abiding by that schedule will bring students success and enjoyment and will prepare them for life and its many surprises.